Comprehensive Analysis Of Casio: Internal And External Factors

Question:

Discuss About The Internal And External Analysis Is Conducted?

An organization needs to have a thorough knowledge about the company itself along with the overall market analysis. The presented reports conduct a comprehensive analysis of the Casio Company. The purpose of the report is to give an overall evaluation of the company. Both internal and external analysis is conducted. The report would be helpful to get a clear idea and knowledge about the Casio Company. A company background has been provided. This is followed by micro and macro (PESTLE) analysis of the company. SWOT analysis is providing to portray and asses the internal condition of the company. Discussion is made about its marketing strategy, followed by a suitable marketing business mix of the company.

Casio, in recent years has gained worldwide popularity. It has established itself as one of the large multinational companies. The Japanese giant is headquartered in the region of Shubuya, Tokyo. The company began its journey as a developer of calculator; gradually the company launched other electronic products, musical instruments, mobiles, cameras, office computers, electronic stationeries, watches and such. The company has attracted major portion of the consumer market with its watches. The digital watches which it offers to the audience have created much interest among the audience, enabling Casio to become a brand name in the process. In Asian markets, Casio is recognized as a popular brand. The company produces electronic products which guarantee superior quality; due to this the company has earned consumer trust and loyalty.

The company is the first to make a fully compact electrical calculator. It is also responsible for launching the first inkjet printer, along with the concept of personal computer. The company enjoys the position of developing the first watch which posses the shock resistant characteristic. The company values customer trust and loyalty, makes sure the products give the value for money.

Micro factors refer to the environmental factors which directly affect and impact the organization. It indicates the factors which are intimately connected with the company. The company does not have full control over these factors although it does influence to certain extent. The point can be explained with the help of examples. Customers, competitors, company, publics, suppliers, marketing intermediaries, are some of the micro environmental factors (Nakagawa & TAKAO, 2016).

Customers- A customer (also known as a consumer, buyer, and client) is someone who buys or purchases a particular product/service/idea from a company, supplier, vendor, and seller. Casio possess large customer base. The quality and features of Casio products have enabled the company to attract consumer interest and generate positive consumer attitude. It is true that the company targets the middle income population, with special reference to youth. However, the steady and demand for the company’s products have increased the customer base (Viramdani & Himmawati, 2017). Considering the present picture, the huge popularity of Casio watches among customers have encouraged the company to concentrate much on the section of watches. The company, observing the demand, gives importance to provide quality watches which excels in terms of advanced functioning, design and usage. Casio experience the maximum amount of sales and profit from its segment of watches. This is followed by the other segments. The other products such as calculator, projectors, and company computers systems are also popular. Electronic products are built depending on consumer requirement and demand however Casio watches have acquired popularity in the global market. Social, personal, cultural and psychological are some of the factors which impact and influence customers. For example, the company has been able to establish a personal bond with the consumers. Consumers and clients of under-developing developing countries trust the company products. The company understands individual preferences and demands and strives to manufacture its products accordingly (Nemchinova, Timofeev & Salov, 2017). It has become a symbol of social status to wear high functioning watches in many countries; Casio has been able to upgrade its products as per the social trend. The company is

Micro and Macro (PESTLE) Analysis

Competitors- Several companies have proven to be tough competitors for Casio Company. The company faces business challenge from fellow companies that provide and manufacture similar electronic products/items. Swatch, Seiko, Citizen, Sony, and Panasonic are some of the examples. Casio faces intense competition from the different companies who also strives to attract consumer attention by providing quality electric products (Anzolini et al.  2016). Panasonic and Sony have been able to get popularity with the mobile phones. Both of these companies provide mobiles that promise functions and design, excellent features within a reasonable range. Therefore, it can be understood that Casio needs to produce better innovative products in order to retain customer attention and interest. The company has been successful in keeping its loyal customers. Other companies have prompted Casio to bring innovative and creative products for customers. The chief significance of the competitors, they provide a competition platform for the company. The company of Swatch, a Swiss company of watches, like Casio, targets the mid-income population. Hence it can be said if the company does not perform well then it possess the chance of losing its market value to the other company.

Company- This refers to the different organizational factors, Casio, for instance posses the necessary resources to conduct its business in an effective manner. Casio has the human resource, responsible for executing the different functions and operations of the operations. Sufficient amount of power is given to the union, this is necessary to have a properly organized labor group. The company takes the effort to strengthen its R&D unit (Coletti et al. 2016). The company needs to try to increase its market share price. The department of the system equipments needs considerable attention.

• Political

The company takes into account the political factor of the Japanese government. In Japan, the two sectors, government and business have developed a healthy alliance. The government keeps track of the economic aspect of the business while the companies take guidance from the government in times of requirement. Casio takes into account this factor. The company has good relation with the government (Keleshteri & Ashkiki, 2016). The business growth and development and the company’s effort to improve the country’s economic condition have succeeded in gaining the goodwill of the government. The Japanese government willingly cooperates with the company in times of need. The government laws and regulations regarding trading and business have opened the global market for the company.

• Economic

SWOT Analysis

The condition of Japan economy has improved to a considerable extent. The overall economy standard of the country has improved due to the development and advanced of the industrial sector which the company showed, leading to positive growth rate. Cash flow, inflow and outflow of the country are stabilized. The labor cost is comparatively low and reasonable, compared with the company benefit (Sara & Piyumi, 2016). This has enabled the company to hire more employees leading to the increase of company productivity. The employment rate of the country is considerably low. This condition of the country has enabled the company to experience steady sales and profit of the company.

• Socio-cultural

The company has experienced positive impact from the socio-cultural factor which includes demography, cultural norms, education, income and such. The company has acquired much popularity in its local country. One of the chief reasons behind the success, the company takes to into account the different demographic factors. For instance, assessing the taste and preference of the young generation and the mid-income population, the company launches its products accordingly (TAKEOKA et al. 2014). High technology electronic products/items have become very much popular. Technology has become an integral part of life in Japan; this has led the company to manufacture advanced electronic gadgets and products.

• Technological

The technological standard if the company has increased to a considerable extent in the country with the passage of time. The country is advanced in terms of possessing high functioning, modern technology. This has enabled the company to get the required technological resource with the help of which the company manufactures and produces some of the best electronic products (Nemchinova, Timofeev & Salov, 2017). Special mention should be provided to the section of digital watches. The company possesses a strong R&D unit. The communication system is well-organized with proper technological aids.

• Legal

The company conforms to the government laws and regulations, the central as well as the regional action. It takes the necessary effort to ensure proper law enforcement. For example, the company encourages diversity, ethnicity and equality. The company considers and acknowledges the court rules and norms.

• Eco-environmental

Casio attempts to reduce environmental harm as much as feasible. The company has put much effort to improve and develop its resource management. This is necessary so that wastage of resources can be avoided. Care is taken to maintain energy consumption level (McNamer & Markas, 2015). The electronic products manufactured by the company promises low energy usage. Steps have been taken to consider and maintain the health and safety of the workforce.

Strengths The company has gained popularity for its advanced high functioning products  The company possess an impressive brand image (Nemchinova, Timofeev & Salov, 2017) Good value in terms of money Sub-brands like Pathfinder, baby, G-shock are aimed for different customers groups The company produces innovative products such as LCD watch along with auto-calendar Casio has good advertising section

Weaknesses Compared to Swatch, Casio’s scale of operation is smaller Some of the series possess advanced functioning designs, too heavy and not much user-friendly, such as DataBank, ProTrek

Opportunities The company can involve itself in sponsoring events and fashion houses Can make innovative styles and designs to attract youth consumers The company can enter different international markets Good advertising and publicity can boost Casio’ brand image and market share

Threats The company is experiencing threat due to fake Casio products Several small companies are producing counterfeit Casio digital watches Sport look’ watches have become very much common as many companies are manufacturing this type of watches, this might reduce market demand of the watches, a possible threat Changes in government policies and fluctuation in market prices can reduce company market share

Marketing Strategy

Marketing strategy refers to the plans and strategies which are formed to in order to sell and promote a service or product. It is important for every organization to have proper marketing strategy to experience maximum profit and growth. Concerning the factor, the company needs to understand and assess the four major factors, segmentation, targeting, differentiation and positioning.

Horizontal integration strategy has been adopted for registering a growth for the sales figure and business development of Casio in the chosen market condition. The primary benefit of the marketing strategy is to lead the organization towards a big and integrated market. The strategic implementation of the marketing policy is to develop an effective business environment for Casio which helps to build a strong business reputation in the market. An intra and inter business communication could be developed through the implementation of horizontal integration strategy.

Segmentation- The Company needs to conduct segmentation based on demographic, psychographic, geographical and behavioral factors. Japan’s lifestyle is comparatively modern, in terms of economy and education. People irrespective of gender prefer to possess advanced technology. The country has a standard economy; this has influenced and changed the psychological aspect of the population. Major section of the population wants to have a better lifestyle. The urban population, for instance, demands comfort. Demand for technology and fashion has risen to a considerable extent. This demand has significantly increased in the mid-income population. With the improvement in the economic condition, this population wants to possess the aid of technology which would also represent fashion, considering the factor of affordability (Kanagal, 2014). The population, particular the young generation’s behavior have changed. People have become more fashion conscious. Education has enabled the society to understand the importance of technology. Geographical aspect is important. For example, the urban population is more aware and familiar of the company and the products which it offers, compared with the rural population. The population density impacts the company’s business.

Targeting- Targeting refers to the section of consumers for whom the company aims to provide its service. The main objectives of “targeting” in STP model are to define the ability of the concerned company and look over the resources which are needed by a company to enter into the global business mart. By this approach, the company and its management can also evaluate themselves and their marketing capabilities with respect to their potential business competitors. Now, in order to look over the “targeting” approach of Casio, it can be interpreted that the Casio’s target group is the youth section of the upper middle class who are fashion conscious and engrossed in technology. The company always tries to look over the metropolitan cities throughout the world.

Competing Companies

On the other hand, it can said that, the company uses differentiated “targeting” strategic approaches so that the management can utilize those strategies for retaining and for acquiring the high-valued customers of the different segments towards the wide range of products and services being offered by them.

Differentiation- differentiation refers to the added features of a product or service which can offer the customer benefits to the company compared to the other similar company in competitive business arena. Added features may make the products and services more acceptable and lucrative among the customer throughout the market. Casio is a leading brand name in electronics market. Being a popular company, the organizational management always tries to look over the production process and market demand so that they can manufacture technologically advanced products which can meet the customer desire and market demand easily. Use of updated and most scientific technology in products may provide “differentiation benefits” to the company in competitive business world.

Positioning-   a proper and effective positioning can guide a company towards successful business goals as it can shed light over the brand’s essence. Moreover, positioning also emphasizes over the facts by which an organization can achieve the customer’s appreciation successfully by providing services and products in accordance to their expectation. Casio always tries to provide maximum importance on the market demand and the expectation of the targeted customer. In order to fulfill the objectives, the organization always use most scientific methods for manufacturing process by which they can offer technologically advanced products to the customer. By proper positioning, the company may also achieve the competitive edge of business arena and huge economical benefits from global capital market. For proper positioning, the Casio tries to look over their potential customers throughout the world so that the company can offer best products and services to them in accordance to their desire and demands.  By this process the company not only retain the customer loyalty but it also can capture the competitive perimeter of the business world which ultimately offers them brand reputation and global recognition.

Marketing mix is a term which is used to refer a group of key factors that influence and impact a company/organization’s comprehensive success and failure.  The marketing mix is an effective tool which helps the organization for the understanding of the suitability of the product in the chosen market. 4p is a significant tool which could be applied for the determination of the marketing mix for Casio which would be helpful for understanding the market as well as the suitability in the chosen market.

Marketing mix can be two types. The 4ps is made up of four crucial factors, place, product, price and promotion. The seven 7ps adds three other factors, people, physical environment and process.

• Product: This factor refers to the product/item which the company intends to market and sell. The company needs to make sure that the product possesses the capacity and features to generate customer attention and interest. The company’s range of G-series, watch aims to attract the urban population; especially the mid-income population has attracted consumers due to the fact that the watches excel in facility, design and durability, provided the new items of G-series promises to be reasonable and affordable (Lajeunesse, 2013).
• Place: Distribution or placement is an important factor. This highlights the necessity of possessing a place where consumers can have easy access to the products. Casio has several branches in different regions of Japan, along with Tokyo; ensuring consumers can easily buy company products.
• Price: products which are being manufactured by the Casio are technologically highly developed and scientifically very advanced. Moreover, the price of the products being offered by the Casio is much more reasonable and affordable compared to the other similar company or brand. Apart from this, Casio always tries to maintain “value-added” policy of pricing for products and services. The company tries to maintain medium-priced pricing strategy so that the customer can afford their products and services easily which in turn helps them in customer retention. As the company tries to target the middle- income groups of a community and especially the students, so the organizational management has the tendency to maintain such pricing strategy which must be less in comparison with other similar brands or products. the company also offers various lucrative discount offers and the periodic schemes on their products and services for increasing their annual earnings as well as for acquiring and/or retaining customer over long period of time.
• Promotion: Casio always tries to focus on “international marketing”. In order to fulfill those objectives, organizational management tries to adopt different steps and among those, promotional strategy is considered as one of the most important strategies. The company invests millions for commercialization or promotional purposes to create and to maintain “brand awareness” globally. The organizational management emphasizes over creating new and innovative design to attract the huge populace especially the youth generation of the society. The company utilizes print media like billboards, newspaper and magazine and television for broadcasting the characteristics features of the brands to the customer. The company also looks over the online media or tries to provide importance on the social networking site for promotional purpose.

So, by considering the success story of Casio, it can be interpreted that proper marketing mix strategy is always act as a propeller for any business organization that can drives the company towards ultimate business success worldwide.

Channel of Distribution: the channel for distribution could be defined as the chosen suitable path which has been adopted by the organization for the best possible way of distributing the product to the consumer. There could be various nodes and interconnections for the understanding of the distribution process whereas direct distribution also could be done between the manufacturers and consumers. 4P would be determining the four channels of distribution for Tesco which has been mentioned in the above discussion. Among the 4Ps, the product would be suitable distribution channel for Casio.  Wholesalers, retailers, agents are the part of the distribution channel based on the product. Therefore, this distribution channel would be helpful for establishing a significant market presence in the highly competitive market.

Figure 1: product distribution

Casio has been using both direct and indirect distribution process for the strategic market and distribution of the product. The primary advantage of direct distribution is the involvement of the sales team directly to the market and this sells team can access the direct market effectively. Casio have established significant direct distribution process throughout the market. Secondly, the market of the distributors could also be accessed through the indirect distribution of the products. The distributors are the basic customers and Casio can arrange suitable training programs for understanding the core value of the organization. 

Casio can adopt intensive distribution strategy for maximizing the selling of the product through as many as outlets placed in various geographic points. Therefore, consumers can access the product from almost every part of the operating market which increases the market exposure and revenue as well.

Figure 2: Distribution strategy

The company holds a recognized and position in its domestic market, Japan. People have the trust and reliability on the company, yet certain recommendations can be used by the company to yield better results.

• The company needs to focus on the other divisions so that it can be successful in gaining consumer loyalty
• Effort can be made to manufacture innovative consumer products apart from the watch segment to enhance sales
• It can focus one broadening its target group
• The company has the potential to attract more foreign markets with its high-end watches and other electronic items (Hintze, 2015).
• Advanced, high functioning items are always in demand, however effort can be made to make the features simple and user-friendly
• Negotiations with other companies can be made to manufacture creative and innovative products

Conclusion 

In conclusion it can be said that Casio Company holds a good market position and has popularity, in domestic and global market. The company is acknowledged as one of the popular brand which has gained significant popularity due to its line of watches. It has been observed that the company possesses certain shortcomings and threats from its competitors like Swatch. However, the company has been successful in keeping its market position by applying suitable market strategy. For instance, the company targets the mid-income population, especially the urban young generation who are fashion conscious and tech savvy. Easy accessibility is also an essential factor. However, the company can further improve its market scope if it gives concentration to popularize the other electronic products, apart from the watch segment.

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